The present invention relates to a pretensioner for a vehicle occupant safety belt system.
In a vehicle occupant safety belt system, safety belt webbing extends across the torso of a vehicle occupant to protect the vehicle occupant in the event of sudden vehicle deceleration. A belt pretensioner acts to tension the safety belt webbing upon the occurrence of the sudden vehicle deceleration. In one known safety belt system that includes a pretensioner, belt webbing is connected to a tongue which is latched in a buckle. The buckle is connected by a cable to a piston. The piston is movable to cause the cable to pull the buckle and, thus, pull the safety belt webbing against the occupant.